Gluten free bread dough is not rising during the proof stage

Question

I have tried numerous attempts at baking a gluten free bread, all of which have ended with the dough not rising during the proof stage. I have used Cup 4 Cup, Bobs Red Mill, and Better Batter 1 for 1 flours. My yeast is blooming, then I have tried both adding wet to dry and dry to wet. I have used my mixer and dough hook, and hand mixing and kneading. I live in Arizona at ~3200ft, I am begining to think I need to adjust the recipes do to my location. Any hints or guidance would be greatly appreciated

Answer 1

I am not familiar with American brands, but I have the strong suspicion that you are using gluten free blends intended for cakes. The second one seems to be intended to be measured in cups, and the third has "batters" in the name, both of which are signs that they aren't meant for bread.

You should purchase a bread-specific blend, and make bread with that, using a recipe intended for gluten-free bread specifically. Don't try to reuse standard recipes for wheat flour bread - the enriched ones probably won't work at all, and even the simple ones with only flour, water and yeast will have the wrong sequence of steps. Ideally, the blend itself will have a recipe printed on the package, just follow that.

Answer 2

It's all down to the flour protein percentage. You are looking for a minimum of 10% (or 10gram) protein flour or higher. I get great results from just 11% protein plain flour.

You are also using poor quality American flour brands that are loaded with many bad additives. Hodgson and St George are the best, cleanest, brands I could find in America. Search for any clean, no additive, non GMO flour brands. You can't always trust the non GMO butterfly logo, it has been known to lie. You need good clean flour to make good bread. Pay attention to the protein count of the different brands of flour.

I avoid so called "strong flour" or "bread flour" because they are highly processed products = junk.